Arigato
by Pyro Venus
Summary: Rated R for language, some sexual content and character death in later chapters. Sequel to 'Aishiteru' After Minako tells her parents, what will happen?


Arigato  
  
By Pyro Venus  
  
A.N: Hi everyone!!! Well, this is sequel to the well-known and well-loved 'Aishiteru'...Contrary to popular belief, Nobody even remotely asked about what was up with the whole 'death on the horizon' thing in Rei's letter...well, this ficlet explains that letter in-depth. Enjoy!!!  
  
Chapter One~  
  
"You WHAT!!??"  
  
That was the first thing out of Mitsiko Aino's mouth when her daughter voiced her confession.  
  
"I...I'm in love with Rei-chan." Minako Aino repeated, her heart growing heavy with regret as her beloved mother's eyes filled with tears.  
  
Her father glanced at her sternly, rushing to his wife's side to console her.  
  
"Isn't this 'Rei-chan' of yours that little bitch that works at the Hikawa Shrine?" he asked Minako, looking up at her, his cobalt eyes brimming with an intense fury.  
  
But that was okay, because Minako's eyes were, too.  
  
"Don't you dare call her a bitch, father... don't you DARE." she whispered icily, each word laced with vehemance.  
  
"I will call that whore of yours anything I damn well want to, Minako. Look what you've done to your mother, you ungrateful little-"  
  
"SHE'S NOT A WHORE!" Minako roared, a golden fire glimmering within her eyes, now. "And don't call me ungrateful! Count yourselves lucky that I even told you! I could have run away, you know, like Metnaka, but I've at least stayed to tell you the truth!"  
  
Her father glared at her through the lenses of his glasses, a glare that, two months earlier, would have frightened Minako out of her wits. But now it only made her stronger.  
  
"And I'm sorry if I hurt Mother, but the truth can sometimes hurt." Minako concluded a bit more softly, kneeling at Mitsuko's side. Mitsuko only pulled away from her daughter's grasp and sobbed more frantically in her husband's broad chest.  
  
"Don't...you...dare...touch...me." Mitsuko sobbed, looking at her youngest daughter with puffy red eyes. "Out..."  
  
Minako wasn't particularly stunned, though it brought on a certain amount of shock to hear her sweet mother order her from their house like she was a dog.  
  
"You heard your mother, young lady. Get out of this house." Ketsu whispered, his voice now taking on a fragile, porcelain-like tone.  
  
"Can I pack my things?" asked Minako, standing to look down upon her parents.  
  
"Yes, yes. Hurry." her mother said, the sobs now under control. "Take only what you need."  
  
So Minako just nodded, walking up the steps of the only true home she had ever known, to a room that would no longer belong to her. Ever.  
  
***  
  
Rei looked around the Shrine grounds, her wine-colored eyes frantic with worry. Where was Minako? They had both agreed on meeting at the Shrine after Minako told her parents everything. They had both known that her parents would kick her out.  
  
She was thankful that she didn't have any true parents to confess to, to tell you the truth. Rei's mother had died when she was very young, and her father was too busy with what Rei liked to call his "political shit" to care a whit about her. The only people that would truly care were her grandfather, whose remains were sitting peacefully in a green urn above the mantlepiece, and Yuuchiro, who hadn't been so surprised, being as how he had watched the two girls dance at a nightclub two months prior to this day.  
  
Come to think of it, the only question he had asked was "Are you sure you're not bi?" when Rei had answered that she was sure, he had shrugged and they had both gone on to their daily chores.  
  
But now she was worrying. "Aino-chan, where are you?" she murmered, sweeping the steps with much more haste than normal. Granted, Minako was almost always late, but she didn't think her golden-haired angel would be late on a day this important!  
  
Just as her fears began to rise again, Rei spotted a familiar blue Mitsubishi, and her heart stopped pounding excessively.  
  
Minako's slender form emerged from the driver's side of the car, and Rei realized that the back of the car was full of suitcases. Even from afar, Minako's love of posessions was obvious. The miko smiled, the worried crease in her delicate brow vanishing as she saw Minako wave at her from the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"Rei-ko!" the blonde hollered, cupping her hands around her mouth. "D'you mind sending Yuuchiro-chan down here to get my trunk?!"  
  
"He'll be right down!" Rei laughed, sure that Minako could hear her. Turning back towards the Shrine, she saw Yuuchiro at the top of the steps.  
  
"I know, I know!" he said, rolling his eyes beneath the cloud of shaggy black hair with a smile. "I've had to do this before, remember?"  
  
Rei smiled at the memory. Every time Minako had come over, she had packed so much useless items in her car's trunk that Yuuchiro'd had to, on more than one occasion, open it by force.  
  
Today was evidently no exception, Rei thought wryly, because, as soon as Yuuchiro got down to the old car, Minako handed him the crowbar she always kept for emergencies.  
  
Rei set down her broom and ran down the steps, raven hair trailing behind her. In a flash, the miko was smothering her love in a sage-scented embrace and burying her face within Minako's freshly washed golden locks.  
  
She looked up toward Yuuchiro, who was looking the slightest bit sick at the two lesbian women embracing beside him. So, just for added effect, she planted her lips squarely upon Minako's in an everlasting kiss, which the blonde eagerly returned.  
  
When they broke apart, Rei grasped Minako's shoulders firmly with her delicate hands and said "Something's wrong. What is it?" and then she gasped when she saw Minako's eye up close.  
  
Her left eye was rimmed with purple and black.  
  
"Oh my god... who did this?!" Rei demanded, fright turning to fury at the very concept of somebody harming a single hair upon her dear Minako's head.  
  
"My father...he punched me... for telling him!" Minako wailed, burying her face in her love's shoulder. Rei nodded, walking toward her old red Firebird.  
  
"Come on. Let's settle this." The infuriated miko demanded as she slid into the driver's seat. Minako grabbed her arm, tugging.  
  
"No, Rei-ko. Don't. It's over and done with. L-let's just go up to the Shrine..."  
  
"NO. Minako, he PUNCHED you. That can still be considered abuse, even if you ARE eighteen! Come on, and let's make sure he doesn't do it again!"  
  
"Why would he do it again? I'm banished from the damned house! He never wants to see my face again, and..." Minako paused for a moment, then a tear rolled down her cheek. "and neither does my mother."  
  
"Which is all the more reason for is to go there and MAKE the bastard see what he did to you!" Rei yelled, still angry beyond all belief. Minako shook her head, whimpering.  
  
"No...nonono... don't, Rei-ko....he'll hurt you, too..."  
  
Rei looked her lover straight in the eyes and nodded. "I'll make sure he doesn't hurt either of us. Now let's go." she demanded.  
  
Minako sensed Rei's courage flowing into her and reluctantly got into the passenger's side of the Firebird.  
  
"Okay... but lt's make it quick, okay?"  
  
"No problem. Yuuchiro!" the fiery-spirited girl yelled out of the car's window, "We'll be right back! Just have to settle some business!"  
  
***  
  
When the Firebird pulled up into the driveway, Rei immediately hopped out of the car, eyes still ablaze. How dare he touch her Minako! How DARE he!  
  
However, she had enough common sense to not just go charging into the house like an angry bull. Instead, she took the sensible approach and rang the doorbell.  
  
"Who is it?" a choked female voice asked. Rei assumed that it was Minako's mother.  
  
"Mrs. Aino, I'd like to talk to you." the miko said, mustering enough courage to steady her voice as the door tentatively opened to reveal a small, frail woman with honey-blonde hair just a shade darker than Minako's own.  
  
"Yes? Wha-" the shock was evident on Minako's mother's face as she recognized the young woman who had sat in their living room constantly and chatted with her daughter over minimal things.  
  
"R-Rei...you shouldn't be here..." she stammered.  
  
"Yes, I should. Do you know just what your husband did to your daughter?"  
  
Mitsuko hesitantly peeked over her shoulder, her big green eyes frantic with worry.  
  
"She's no longer my daughter. I h-hope you understand, Rei..."  
  
"No, I don't understand! Why do you refuse to accept your daughter for who she is?! God damnit! Are you so ignorant that you just toss her to the curb when you find out WHO her true love is?!" Rei exploded, pointing at the meek little woman. "She loves you, too! You're her family, so why are you just letting Ketsu push you around like a sack of potatoes?!"  
  
Mitsuko blinked, apparently gazing at something behind Rei.  
  
"Like a sack of potatoes, is she?" a gravelly voice came from behind the raven-haired woman. "Listen, you. Leave this family alone. You've caused enough damage as it is."  
  
Rei turned to meet Minako's father, Ketsu, a powerfully built man in his mid-to-late forties. She looked him square in the eye and spat "Care to see the damage you've done yourself?"  
  
With that, Rei pushed past Ketsu, to her car, where Minako sat, waiting. Leaning down to speak to her, Rei said "Minako, come on. Let's show this brute just what he did."  
  
Minako nodded, eyes glistening with fresh tears as she slid herself out of the passenger's side of the red vehicle.  
  
Facing her parents, Minako watched as her mother gasped, and her father just stared at her blankly.  
  
"Who the hell is THAT?" he asked icily, eyes narrowing. A sharp pang tore through the golden-haired eighteen-year-old as she realized that her father was dismissing her completely.  
  
"This, Mr. Aino, is your DAUGHTER. The one you cannot accept just because she's homosexual! Remember her? The one you punched? Minako?" Yelled Rei, standing on her tiptoes to meet the man's eyes with her own. For a moment Ketsu looked quite taken aback at the vehemance laced within the woman's words, but then the calmness had settled back into his eyes.  
  
"I don't know whom it is you're talking about, miss, and I assure you that I have no daughters. If I did, I most likely wouldn't hit them, and they surely would not be homosexual. Now, please, get off of my property before I call the police."  
  
There was a moment of stunned silence, then, a sharp cracking sound was heard. Rei had slapped Ketsu's face as hard as humanly possible. The fire within her eyes was quite obvious, and the malicious tone within her voice showed all emotions but defeat.  
  
"Let that be a reminder of your follies, you lousy excuse for a parent." she whispered angrily. "Minako, let's go."  
  
Minako shook her head and remained glaring at her father. "Bastard." she said clearly before turning on her heel and settling back into the car.  
  
A/N: Like it so far? Love it? Hate it, even? I'm open to all sorts of reviews, even flames! Criticism is welcome!  
  
~PV~ 


End file.
